Book X of the Protector
by Anmras
Summary: After trading himself for his greatest ally in Rohan, Legolas is awaiting what he is positive will be the most horrifying torture of his life. All he wants to do is go home, but his plans may change...
1. Chapter 28

Well, I suppose it's time to tell you that this story is just on the edge of winding down. Yeah, there'll still be a few more books, but they'll be the climaxes and the ending. This book has the first climax, so enjoy!  
  
@ Deana – Yeah... he's so noble... Sorry, started daydreaming!  
  
Chapter 28  
  
Legolas was taken into a low corridor that twisted and turned deeper and deeper into the cavern. He refused to be tied up and the men seemed afraid to push him to do something he resisted. His weapons were taken from him, even the blowgun, and he was given different clothes. They were torn and dirty, smelling strongly of blood and sweat. He didn't want to think of who they had come from.  
  
His cell was dark with a small strip of light leaking through a crack in the wall. There was dried blood on the floor, but other then that, the stone room was bare. He was left there behind the closed bars guarded by several men who kept there distance.  
  
Legolas was sure they were afraid of him. Almost scared to even touch him. He smiled at the thought. They deserved to be fearful of someone, after so many people were fearful of them for so long.  
  
Legolas wondered why they didn't think of him as the prince of Mirkwood. The gang members at the farmhouse seemed to know and Redd warned him that they did. Maybe they only knew that Legolas was here, but not that Fermanir and the prince are one and the same. He sighed, relieved that they didn't know who he really was.  
  
The night was long and cold. Legolas didn't sleep at all and was feeling stiff by the morning. His stomach grumbled and he wondered if they were going to feed him, or let him die slowly.  
  
His question was answered when a man with a large sack came down the hall. He threw in a small portion of burnt meat that raised a cloud of dust from the earthy floor. He sighed and kicked it away. The man ignored the gesture and continued on. Legolas guessed that the row of cells lead back into the larger cave where he entered, because he didn't return again that day. And he was feeling it.  
  
He spent another night in the shelter. He was beginning to feel the affect of the silence around him now. He felt desperate to converse with someone. Who would he talk to, the guards? They would cringe away or spit on him. They wouldn't listen to what he had to say.  
  
Legolas was completely surprised when his idea turned around on him.  
  
'Why did you have to kill them?' asked a gang member who had sat down against the bars of a cell opposite him. The strip of light rested across his face, lighting up his eyes. Legolas focused his attention on him, ignoring his hunger and desire to ignore the question.  
  
'Because they were harming others.' he said. 'Harming the innocent.' the man sighed.  
  
'But what if they were innocent in the first place?' he asked. 'What if they had no choice?' Legolas thought it almost sounded like he was asking advice. Before he could replace his puzzled look with a comment, footsteps echoed throughout the tunnel. A man with a long cloak and intricate designs on his helmet appeared from the darkness.  
  
'Bring him.' he said. 'And tie him up.'  
  
As much as Legolas fought, he couldn't overpower the men around him. He hadn't eaten in four days and was beginning to feel the physical affect. He stared at the ground as he walked, his eyes flickering only once to the gang member who questioned him.  
  
Legolas came into the light and blinked. The sight of the river suddenly gave him an urge to dive in and drink. He licked his lips as the men pushed him up a wide staircase he had not yet seen. They crossed a bridge over a chasm into a high circular room. In the middle was a post. Along the sides were several ropes hanging from the ceiling. Legolas's eyes widened at the sight of a dead man hanging from his wrists across the room. He suddenly felt a spear of fear pierce through him as he spotted several things on the floor.  
  
One was a bucket with steaming water.  
  
One was a circle of ropes.  
  
One was a pile of wood beside a crackling fire.  
  
Resting in the fire was a knife. 


	2. Chapter 29

Chapter 29  
  
Legolas heard a soft music in his head. He breathed in the scent of fresh grass and fruit bursting with flavor.  
  
Springtime.  
  
Home.  
  
Wandering through the courtyard, he took in the green all around him. It felt so good to be home again. He never thought he could be this happy.  
  
The wind in the trees began to whisper to him. Softly... peacefully. Whoosh... hiss... betrayal... hatred... hiss... burning... bleeding... whoosh...  
  
DEATH.  
  
Legolas snapped awake to a living hell. He felt drowsy and his head heavy. His vision swam. His back was a garden of pain. Burns, cuts, welts and blisters stabbed at him. He wanted to rub his head but his hands were stuck at his sides. He was too weak to move them at all.  
  
He had been trapped here for at least a week, not eating nor drinking. Only once had he left his cell, and he didn't want to remember what they had done to him. Each cut was deep, deeper that any he had ever experienced.  
  
He coughed on a cloud of dust and his lungs pulsed with pain. He sighed and breathed deeply. He was swimming in a pool of his own blood. He prayed that this would end soon.  
  
Legolas seeped in and out of consciousness for who knows how long. He remembered only the sliver of light that fell across his face and the shadows of the gang members outside his cell.  
  
Finally, he was kicked awake by the young man who asked him why he had to kill the other gang members. Legolas was pulled to his feet which didn't want to support him. He was carried like a wounded soldier out of cell and down the dark corridor. His head rolled on his chest. He could barely move his feet across the floor.  
  
He was carried, an arm around a shoulder of a gang member, into the large room. Gang members were gathered there in a massive crowd. Legolas looked up at each of them in the eyes. They glared, brandishing a sword or dagger at him with dark eyes.  
  
Legolas was brought to a post set in the center of the water. He was thrown against it. He grunted and grit his teeth as the splinters of wood itched his back. Ropes tied his arms against his sides and his feet and neck to the post. He struggled against them as much as his energy would let him. By now, the gang members had started a chant that echoed throughout the cavern. Legolas was waist deep in what was surprisingly warm water. His back was ablaze with pain, but there was nothing he could do to stop it.  
  
The chanting suddenly came to a halt when the crowd parted and a tall man emerged. Legolas recognized him as the member who had tortured him days earlier.  
  
'We gather today at an event that will bring glory to us all.' Legolas felt his chest tighten as he pulled a sword out of his sheath. The cave was quiet, save for the rushing water and the ring of metal that the blade sounded out. 'Today is a day that we repay the blood spilt from our comrades. Today is a day that we give our own the revenge they lusted for.' Legolas could tell that this was not the first time this had happened. The speech seemed almost traditional, along with the setting of the full moon shedding light into the cavern.  
  
Legolas pulled against the ropes again but there was nothing he could do. He was too weak to fight; too bound to resist; too broken to rise again.  
  
'If anyone disagrees that this man be killed in honor of the fallen, let him speak now.' Legolas didn't expect anyone to step forward. Some looked to their feet, as though ashamed of a single thought of rebellion. The man smiled and turned to Legolas.  
  
He started towards him into the river water. His fur-lined cloak at first floated, but then grew damp in the water and sank. The rushing water splashed his face and sword until he was waist-deep and level with Legolas. The blade rested on the front of his neck between two of the thick ropes.  
  
'I may die.' Legolas suddenly said in a voice that he didn't recognize. 'I may rot in some dark hole or burn on some pile of wood, but I will certainly not be forgotten.' The man laughed.  
  
'You think there is some person at your home where they will miss you?' he said. 'They may, but not for long. We intend to see to anyone who resists us. To make sure the great eye with oversee the lands again.' Legolas's eyes widened.  
  
Men of the darkness. Men of Sauron.  
  
'You-' he didn't finish as the blade began to cut into his neck. He gasped at the pain, but didn't cry out. 'Y-you will never convince everyone.' he said. 'Anyone who resists, you'll kill without question. You'll kill them because you're afraid they'll kill you first. You're all nothing but cowards!'  
  
In the blink of an eye, the blade left his neck and plunged into his flesh.  
  
.  
  
OH NO! Did I kill him? Did I really do it? 


	3. Chapter 30

Sorry it took so long to get this up, I'm literally bombarded with homework! Anyway, It will probably be awhile until I get the next book up, but be on your toes!  
  
The song today is 'Bring me to Life' by Evanescence (pray I spelt that right!)  
  
@ Vicki Turner – YOUR Lego?  
  
@ Estelisminegoaway – Whaddya mean 'allowed'? Anyone is allowed to die... especially Legolas!  
  
@ pirate-queen-of-sixteen – Apparently it was a good cliffie, eh?  
  
Chapter 30  
  
Legolas stared down in shock at the sword in his chest. He looked up to the gang member, who smiled at him.  
  
~How can you see into my eyes,~  
  
~Like open doors?~  
  
His vision began to swim before him, all edges blurring and sounds dimming.  
  
'NO!' the cry seemed to come from everywhere. Gang members looked around in shock as an explosion suddenly erupted from the ceiling. The stone roof fell in the room, rising a cloud of smoke and dust. Ropes fell down and swords were unsheathed. Legolas struggled to focus on the sudden chaos that erupted before him but found it impossible.  
  
Down from the stairs, the roof and from other places the gang members never thought attack from, Rohan men came out. They carried weapons, shields and large stones and torches. Landing at the bottom of the stairs with a slight groan was Redd.  
  
~Leading you down into my core,~  
  
~Where I've become so numb.~  
  
After three days in a healer's home he had recovered some. When he went outside for the first time since Legolas rescued him, there was an army of men saying that they would help him go after Legolas. After days of preparations and more healing, Redd and the men finally left on their search. They found it earlier that day and spent the evening invading silently so that they may attack at all sides. Redd plunged his knife into many enemies, searching for Legolas. He could barely hear the screams of the men around him over the rushing water that was beginning to flood the cavern from a river that ran above.  
  
Water was soon up to his knees and he was barely in the cavern. Tunnels started to get filled up and men evacuating. Where is he? he thought. Where is Legolas?  
  
~Without a soul,~  
  
~My spirit sleeping somewhere cold.~  
  
The battle raged on and the water continued to rise. Bodies were floating all around and making movement more and more difficult. It was like swimming in an ocean of blood. Redd finally made it to the other end of the cavern where he met a general that had a group of his men searching for Legolas.  
  
'Have you found him yet?' he yelled over the noise around him.  
  
'No, but I've gotten signals from the men on that side!' the general pointed Redd into the direction of several flaming arrows firing up into the air.  
  
'Thank you!' he called over his shoulder as he headed back into the crowd. He started to swim now towards the falls where one last arrow was fired. People were beginning to grab onto debris and continue fighting. Redd couldn't help but smile after seeing his men were winning.  
  
~Until you find it there and lead it back...~  
  
Redd froze as he saw something in the water. A golden head still and held down as though tied. He barely recognized the face before the water slid over it.  
  
'Legolas!' he cried.  
  
~Home.~  
  
Redd swam over and unsheathed a small knife. He dove down into the water and cut the ropes around Legolas's arms. He had to go up for breath. Another man joined him but was followed by a gang member. Redd stared as the gang member's knife plunged into the back of the man. Blood spurted out and stained the front of his shirt. He touched it gingerly as the man sank into the water and gang member eyes him.  
  
Redd barely blocked the attack and parried another. He kicked the man but only ended up further away from Legolas. The man cried out as he lunged at Redd. He was taller so he could still stand in the water. He was very tall, but moved slowly as if weighed down by a heavy piece of clothing.  
  
He let out a hair-curling scream and his eyes popped out of his head. He fell into the water with a few inches of an arrow protruding from his back. He sighed with relief and returned to Legolas. He could no longer touch the bottom so he had to completely dive down into the water to cut the rest of the ropes. Redd froze when he saw a sword sticking out of Legolas's chest.  
  
~Wake me up inside,~  
  
~Wake me up inside,~  
  
~Call my name and save me from the dark.~  
  
~Bid my blood to run,~  
  
~Before I come undone,~  
  
~Save me from the nothing I've become.~  
  
Redd pulled the sword out of Legolas who's eyes shot open. Blood began to create a wall in between them. Redd cut the final ropes around his neck and pulled him to the surface. Redd gulped in air and started swimming towards the staircase.  
  
His men were starting to leave now, not taking any notice to the two swimming forms in the sea of bodies. Redd felt the weight of Legolas pulling him down. He gasped for air as he was under the bloody water again. He struggled to keep Legolas afloat as he kept swimming. Finally, he feet touched bottom again and he resurfaced. He carried Legolas over his shoulder and began to bolt up the stairs. Finally, a single man noticed and called others to come back down. Cries of success suddenly erupted through the cave, but died out at the sight of Legolas's body.  
  
~Now that I know what I'm without,~  
  
~You can't just leave me.~  
  
Once they were at higher ground, people began to realize he wasn't breathing. He was set down on the stairs and several men began to try to revive him.  
  
~Breathe into me and make me real,~  
  
~Bring me to life.~  
  
Redd emerged again from the crowd, pushing people out of his way.  
  
'Is he all right?' he cried. 'Will he live?' The man who was trying to revive him looked at Redd with sad eyes before continuing to save the elf.  
  
~Wake me up inside,~  
  
~Wake me up inside,~  
  
~Call my name and save me from the dark.~  
  
~Bid my blood to run,~  
  
~Before I come undone,~  
  
~Save me from the nothing I've become.~  
  
Suddenly, Legolas was coughing violently. Water and blood spurted from his mouth and his eyes opened. He rolled onto his sighed and clutched his chest.  
  
'Oh, thank Valar!' sighed Redd, kneeling down beside his friend.  
  
'Elenest?' Legolas asked weakly, barely opening his eyes.  
  
~Frozen inside without your touch,~  
  
~Without your love, darling.~  
  
~Only you're the life,~  
  
~Among the dead.~  
  
Legolas found himself home again. Elenest in the garden and his child running to him. Legolas picked him up and embraced him. Elenest approached, smiling at him. He felt her warm lips on his cheek.  
  
~All this time, I can't believe I couldn't see,~  
  
~Kept in the dark, but you were there in front of me.~  
  
~I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems,~  
  
~Got to open my eyes to everything!~  
  
~Without a thought,~  
  
~Without a voice,~  
  
~Without a soul,~  
  
~Don't let me die here.~  
  
~There must be something more,~  
  
~Bring,~  
  
Legolas suddenly focused on Redd.  
  
~Me,~  
  
'You saved my life....'  
  
~To life!'~  
  
*  
  
Soon, the survivors were outside in the gully. They all climbed the slightly forested wall and came to a small camp of tents. Legolas was taken into one of the tents and set down on a small cot. Redd and several healers tended to his wounds. Finally, when they were going to sew closed the sword wound, the healers asked Redd to leave. He waited outside with his arms crossed in frustration over his chance.  
  
~Wake me up inside,~  
  
~Wake me up inside,~  
  
~Call my name and save me from undone.~  
  
~Bid my blood to run,~  
  
~Before I come undone,~  
  
~Save me from the nothing I've become.~  
  
One of the healers came outside after ten minutes, wiping his hands on a bloody cloth. He cast a sad glance at Redd.  
  
'Well?' he asked. The healer simply shook his head and walked away. Redd stood there, transfixed. He glanced inside the tent at Legolas, lying immobile on the cot.  
  
~Bring me to Life...~ 


End file.
